Politics

Records detail AG candidate's Brad Schimel's drunken driving arrest

Madison — Attorney general candidate Brad Schimel received his drunken driving citation 24 years ago after a sheriff's deputy clocked him driving 81 mph in a 50 mph zone, according to a law enforcement report released Thursday.

Schimel, the Waukesha County district attorney and only Republican in the race for attorney general, earlier this month acknowledged receiving the ticket, but said he never had a copy of the deputy's report. Schimel, 48, was 24 when he received the ticket May 15, 1990.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel requested reports on incidents involving both Schimel and Dane County District Ismael Ozanne, a Democrat who as a teenage driver was also ticketed for an alcohol-related incident. But the records in Ozanne's case have already been purged.

According to the report released under the state's open records law, a deputy saw a red Ford speed past him at 11:15 p.m. heading west on I-94 at N. 35th St. The deputy's radar recorded the car going 81 mph, the deputy turned on his emergency lights and the car exited south at Highway 41 at high speed.

The report said the deputy had to drive at a high speed to catch up and the driver — eventually identified as Schimel — pulled over near W. National Ave.

The deputy told Schimel he was going to give him field sobriety tests and asked him to recite the alphabet.

"He stated he had a college education," the deputy's report says.

Schimel then correctly recited the alphabet but had to stop for a few seconds at three points. He failed to touch his nose and walk heel to toe for five steps and back.

Schimel told the deputy he was headed to Madison and wasn't trying to elude the officer with his southbound exit onto Highway 41. The deputy wrote that he didn't seek charges of eluding an officer because Schimel pulled over within two miles of the first sighting.

Schimel campaign spokesman Darrin Schmitz issued a statement Wednesday that said Schimel "told the officer he simply found the safest and closest location to pull over, and the officer did not dispute him." The report does not describe what Schimel said, other than that he said he wasn't trying to elude the officer.

Schimel was arrested and put in handcuffs. His blood alcohol content measured 0.14, above the limit at the time of 0.1.

He was ticketed for drunken driving and speeding. Schimel has said he pleaded guilty to the drunken driving offense and paid a fine. Records also show his license was suspended for six months.

"Brad used this experience, and many others he confronted as a prosecutor, to implement effective anti-drunk driving programs in Wisconsin," Schmitz's statement said.

Was D.A. intern

The incident happened around the time Schimel ended an internship at the Waukesha County district attorney's office. Schimel was hired as an assistant district attorney there six months later.

A copy of Schimel's personnel file that he released earlier this month includes a handwritten note on the incident saying Schimel had told a job interviewer he had been at a concert, had a few drinks and was stopped.

Ozanne crashed his car and was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.04 — an amount that would have been below the legal limit for an adult, but conflicted with Wisconsin's "not a drop" law that prevents those under 21 from having any alcohol in their blood while driving.

Ozanne paid a fine and lost his license for 90 days, according to his campaign.

Ozanne's campaign consultant, Melissa Mulliken, said Ozanne was cited by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police and that records of the violation no longer exist. The UW-Madison police chief, Sue Riseling, confirmed the agency does not maintain such records.

Two other Democrats are running to replace outgoing Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. They are state Rep. Jon Richards of Milwaukee and Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ.

An Aug. 12 primary will determine which Democrat faces Schimel in the Nov. 4 general election.

About Patrick Marley

Patrick Marley covers state government and state politics. He is the author, with Journal Sentinel reporter Jason Stein, of "More Than They Bargained For: Scott Walker, Unions and the Fight for Wisconsin.”